A Call to Action: The Path in Alberta

I was the creator of The Path: Indigenous Cultural Competency Education (“The Path”) for all lawyers across Alberta to take when I was working at the Law Society of Alberta (LSA) in 2020-21. And I consulted continuously with stakeholders, academics, lawyers, artists, advocates, individuals, elders, matriarchs, community members, and committees to get it right. Here are my reflections on what is happening in Alberta right now in terms of a group of lawyers who are petitioning the LSA to remove a rule (Rule 67.4) that allows the LSA to mandate legal education; and how the one lone compulsory Indigenous course I created can be a guide for lawyers into making positive differences in their lives that can: 1) bring them closer to reconciliation; 2) bring them closer to the “truth” that Canada has been hiding; and, 3) by understanding they can begin to live and practise in a different way – one that honours and centers around Indigenous ethics like love, honesty, truth, respect, humility wisdom, and courage.

The legal profession has long been steeped in the legacy of colonialism and systemic racism. Indigenous Peoples have faced numerous barriers to justice within the Canadian legal system, and the relationship between Indigenous Peoples and the legal system has been fraught with racism, genocide along with zero accountability. In recent years, however, there have been efforts to address systemic issues that Indigenous Peoples face and also to promote equity, diversity, and inclusion within the legal profession. One such effort was the creation of The Path and alongside it came the decision to have it as a mandatory continuing professional development program. In November 2022, the Law Society of Alberta suspended approximately 30 Alberta lawyers for their failure to complete the training.

From a common sense perspective, The Path is a tool for promoting positive change and a chance to understand why gradual reform is needed in the legal system through autonomous and self-directed learning via online video modules that are designed in a respectful way that understands lawyers have an existing base of knowledge and life experiences.

By educating lawyers with a module about Indigenous pre-colonial history in Alberta, it gave them a chance to learn local history and why Indigenous Peoples still maintain a strong connection to the land. It set out who was here, where and for how long in an effort to try to get lawyers to understand that Indigenous Nations are all unique and to avoid taking a pan-Indigenous approach because it is disrespectful and ignorant.

Additionally, another module I created centered on colonial contact in Alberta between Indigenous Peoples and Settlers, where lawyers get to learn about the illegal seizure of Indigenous lands, the forced removal and displacement of Indigenous Peoples from their traditional territories, the control over Indigenous lands through the imposition of treaties, laws, Indian Agents, and illegal regulations like “the Pass System” that had, and still are being imposed by federal and provincial governments without the consent of Indigenous Peoples.

The Path also has modules discussing the Residential School System which was a network of boarding schools that were allowed by the Canadian government and run by Christian churches. I listed all the residential schools in Alberta for lawyers to learn all the schools that may be close by them, just in case their friend or client attended there; similarly, Alberta Indian hospitals were also described and outlined in modules so that lawyers can learn about the Indigenous children who were kept there for years, sometimes never returning home, and where forced sterilization, and cruel experiments took place.

Since 2021, with the ongoing discovery of Indigenous children’s remains at former residential schools, it has been brought to light the need to understand the truth of what happened in Canada, and the need for lawyers to practise reconciliation. As Chief Commissioner for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, Murray Sinclair said, “We have described for you a mountain. We have shown you the path to the top. We call upon you to do the climbing.”

In conclusion, The Path is an important tool for beginning the journey on how to understand that building relationships with Indigenous Peoples is the key to reconciliation. And yes, it is a challenge to appreciate how best to do it. Some people prefer to shut down before they even look at the mountain, others prefer to look away while they journey, while others are climbing with purpose and accountability to the top.